New $20 million library preps for Feb. 23 debut

ENCINITAS – Nearly two years after the start of construction, Encinitas' $20 million library overlooking City Hall will open Feb. 23, a city official said yesterday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for 9 a.m. The library will open at 9:30 a.m., its regular time, said Richard Phillips, assistant to the city manager.

The City Council has chosen two artists to create artwork accompanying the project, and each will build a sculpted gateway into the library, Phillips said.

Construction of the earthen-colored, poured-concrete building at 540 Cornish Drive is complete, but there still is work to finish. Landscaping must be planted at the hilltop site, and interior finish work on walls, floors and bookcases needs to be completed.

Furnishings, computer stations and a coffee kiosk in the 26,800-square-foot building need to be outfitted. The 90,000 items that will fill the collections, including books, CDs and DVDs, need to be stocked, Phillips said.

“I've been waiting 21 years for this thing, so I think it looks pretty close,” said Mayor Jerome Stocks, an advocate for a new library since the city's incorporation in 1986.

The library replaces an old, smaller building that was torn down on the same site.

Stocks sees the library, with its commanding terrace views of the Pacific, hosting lectures and public symposia and providing access to research, including free Internet access and free wireless connections for people who bring their own laptop computers. Patrons will be able to enjoy their coffee bar purchases throughout the building, Stocks said.

A city Commission for the Arts panel winnowed proposals for the library arts projects, and the City Council chose the works of artists Paul Hobson of San Diego and James Mullen of Palm Springs. Each will receive about $20,000, Phillips said.

Hobson will design a sculpted gate for the north courtyard outside the children's area that will be made of black metal in flowing patterns, Phillips said.

Mullen will design a gate to a terrace facing south that will be made of pounded copper in a free-form style, perhaps resembling splashing waves.

At Councilwoman Teresa Barth's suggestion, the council did not choose any artwork for the courtyard. The commission had recommended additional artwork that would have brought the total cost to more than $100,000.

Councilwoman Maggie Houlihan said that limiting the decision to the gates was a wise decision. Choosing any other artwork would be easier after the library opens and the public's use of the courtyard is known. Too large a piece, for example, might cramp the area if it turns out people like to congregate there, she said.

Also, blending the courtyard artwork with the building and the gates would be important, Houlihan said. “We certainly don't want art competing with each other,” she said.

Although the city is building the library and will maintain it, the San Diego County Library will buy books and materials, provide the computers and spend $1 million to $1.5 million annually to operate the facility.

The nonprofit Friends of the Encinitas Library is raising money to help stock the library. It has raised $134,000 for library materials, and the county library has matched it, said Anne Omsted, Friends co-president.

The $268,000 would buy about 13,500 books, CDs and DVDs, she said.

The Friends group has been authorized by the council to raise money by selling the rights to name rooms in the library, but no one has made a purchase, Phillips said. For example, donors who want to give $861,000 might have the library's community meeting room named after them.